Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has expressed deep shock and sorrow at the demise of Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Annisul Huq.
“We are deeply saddened by his death. We have lost an iconic, honest and spirited mayor. I doubt whether the DNCC will ever get a mayor like him,” he told reporters on Friday.
In his first appearance as the DNCC mayor, Annisul had told the Dhaka Tribune that Awami League Advisory Council Member Tofail and Presidium Member Muhammad Faruq Khan had conveyed to him Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's message asking him to contest the 2015 DNCC mayoral election.
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“Following the prime minister's directives, I had invited him [Anniusl] to my office before the DNCC polls. In the meeting, we had had a fruitful discussion on him being a candidate for the mayoral post," Tofail recalled.
"After hearing the prime minister's wishes, Annisul told me that he will prepare to contest in the election,” said the minister, adding that Annisul had also shared his plans to revamp the DNCC area.
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The 65-year-old DNCC mayor died on Thursday night while undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of Wellington Hospital in London.
Annisul went to the UK on July 29 and was hospitalised after falling sick during medical tests for neurological problems on August 13. He was later diagnosed with cerebral vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessel wall in the brain.